Child arrangements

[MrsDancer]

I am going through a difficult divorce. We have two children aged 8 and 6. I am in court next week to sort the child arrangements order. My ex works away and his pattern is usually 5 weeks on then 5 weeks off. I have always been the primary carer and the children are used to their dad working away. He is wanting 50/50 and wanting to take the children to live with him each time he returns home from working away. Do you think a court would rule this? At present we share the children 50/50 while he is home which really works out as 75% with me and 25% with dad. He refuses to pay any child maintenance and he is hoping to achieve 50/50 so he never has to pay anything. I know this would not be in the best interests of the children as they have never spent much time away from me before, the most they have is 3 nights in a row with our current routine. Does anyone know what the judge may rule from anyone else's experience? I don't know anyone else in this situation where their ex works away and wants the children when home. I think one stable home would be best for them?

Thank you x

Can only talk in generalities, but courts do like to preserve the existing arrangements if they are seen to work well.
Do your locations make it possible to easily attend their schools? Parents generally have to live close to each other for that (i.e. 50/50) to work owing to school run.
You should also be raising lack of child maintenance up to this point ... though have you tried through CMS?

He has remained in the family home and Ieft with the children due to his abusive behaviour. He lives right bear school and I now live 20 mins away but I have been getting the children to school on tike for 18 months so I am hoping these living arrangements do not go against me.
I have tried CMS but my exH is employed by a foreign company and because he is out the country for more than 6 months a year, he does not pay UK tax. The CMS only look at what tax is paid to calculate earnings, so when they see no tax, they say he earns 0 and can not afford to contribute which is ridiculous because he is a very high earner.

Child care access/arrangements are rarely ever 50/50, the courts view that there should be continuity for children and that their busy lives change for example clubs, activities, hobbies, playdates so there must be flexibility. If there is domestic abuse you could take out a court injunction, there are a few options but you would have to look into the most suitable. Furthermore, if he does not pay CMS... there is another route of looking at obtaining money from interest on his savings, any additional income from a rental property ( if he owns this) etc. Please look into Family Law.

Update *

The court ruled the children live with me and spend time with their dad. The arrangements have been kept as 75% with me and 25% with their dad. I was given permission to get the children new passports (ex had kept them and wouldn't allow me access to them) and since this I have taken the children to Disneyland Paris.

The CMS has conducted an investigation into my ex earnings and now know he does earn a high wage. They made a payment plan for him to follow as he owes me £14k in CM but so far he still hasn't made any payments